34. PEOPLE VS.

MUIT
117 SCRA 696 (1982)
NATURE: Appeal from the Decision of the Court of First Instance of Camarines Sur, Branch I (Naga City), in Criminal Case No.
R-7 (1847), convicting the accused Delfin Muit, a retired PC 2nd Lieutenant, of Murder, and sentencing him to suffer the penalty
of reclusion perpetual for the gunning down of the victim, Rodolfo Torrero.

FACTS: On February 26, 1976 at about 2:45 o'clock in the afternoon, while the deceased Rodolfo Torrero, his family and friends,
were passing by the house of accused Delfin Muit at barrio Tamban, Tinambac, Camarines Sur, on their Nay home from a picnic,
the accused invited them to his house to take a rest. At that time Muit was alone as his wife and children were not around. Once
the group was inside his house, accused Muit who is a retired PC lieutenant remarked that his invitation showed that he had no
ill-feeling against the Torreros and that he knew the latter had no ill-feeling also against him. As they engaged in some amenities,
a group of barangay members and PC authorities in !barge of the sanitation and cleanliness program on that particular lay, which
was Community Day, paid them a visit, and after a short talk, said group left. The deceased Torrero conducted the group on their
way out and upon his return; accused Muit requested him to take a seat.
The accused then confronted Rodolfo Torrero why the latter always visits his wife even during nighttime and why he often
invites her out. Torrero replied that being the barangay zone auditor, he had to confer with the accused's wife on barangay matters
as the latter was the barangay zone president. The accused then asked why Torrero even gave food and money to his (accused's)
children if he had no bad intention at all on his wife. Torrero's wife answered that they did it out of pity because there were times
when they would see the accused's children in need of food and money. The accused, however, angrily stood up and countered,
"Why should you give when your husband had also a family to support? To avoid any trouble, the deceased Torrero likewise
stood up and said, 'If that is the way we talked about this will end to nothing, so it is better that I should leave', and he proceeded
to move out of the house.
When Torrero was already outside the house of the accused and while walking along the pathway, the accused followed him and
on reaching the door the accused shouted, "Wait because we have not yet finished". At that instant, the accused raised his left
hand towards Torrero and with his right hand; he pulled out his .45 caliber pistol and aimed it at the deceased. Angrily, he fired
his gun at Torrero who was just 3 meters away, hitting the latter at the lower left side below the nape. On being hit by the bullet,
Torrero spun from his left to the right, with his two hands inclined to the right, his face writhing in pain, his left elbow raised
parallel to his armpit and his right hand placed on his breast.
Upon hearing the gunshot, witness Gubatan immediately grabbed and held the accused from behind with an embrace, and said,
"Manoy Delfin, why are you like that? But as soon as Gubatan embraced the accused from behind, a second shot was fired, this
time hitting the elevated left hand of Torrero, with the bullet penetrating through the breast. Consequently, Torrero fell on his
knees, bent forward with face downward and body in a prone position his left elbow supporting him on his left lap while his right
hand extended to the ground. Witness Gubatan on the other hand tightened his grip around the accused as he tried to wrestle with
him.
The wife of Torrero, who was shocked by the first shot thereupon rushed towards her fallen husband. But the accused on seeing
Mrs. Torrero rushed towards the deceased, aimed his gun at her. Fortunately, witness Gubatan quickly grabbed the right forearm
of the accused that held the gun and jerked it upward so that the third shot was fired towards the sky, thus missing its target Id).
Witness Gubatan then said, "Manoy Delfin that is enough". Gubatan thereafter moved the accused away and brought him near a
coconut tree. Mrs. Torrero, on the other hand, hugged her husband and cried for help, even as blood was oozing out from the
deceased's body and mouth. Shortly thereafter, Torrero died.
Near the coconut tree, the accused tried to free himself from the hold of Gubatan. He even pointed his gun at Gubatan and said,
"Set me free Benny or I will shoot you. When Gubatan could no longer hold the accused as the latter kept on struggling, he let
him go and said, "Alright Kuya Delfin, shoot me, after all I have no fault". Slowly, the accused put down his arm, his eyes at
static condition. He (appellant) then started to move away, and as he did, he made a short last look at his victim, after which, he
continued on his way. After the incident, the accused proceeded to the PC detachment to surrender himself and his gun.

ISSUE: Whether or not the accused can involve passion and obfuscation as mitigating circumstance?

HELD: Modifying the judgment appealed from, the accused Delfin Muit, is hereby sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty
of eight (8) years of prision mayor, as minimum, to fourteen (14) years and eight (8) months of reclusion temporal, as maximum,
with the judgment being affirmed in an other respects.
RATIONALE:
During the trial the accused involved passion and obfuscation as mitigating circumstance. There can be no question that
the accused was driven strongly buy jealousy because of rumors regarding the amorous relationship between his wife and the
victim. The feeling of resentment resulting from rivalry in amorous relation with a woman is a powerful stimulant from rivalry
and amorous relation with a woman is a powerful stimulant to jealously and is sufficient to produce loss of reason and selfcontrol. In other words, it is a powerful instigation of jealously and prone to produce anger and obfuscation.